We, as residents and visitors of Deal and Walmer, demand action and investment to end the sewage pollution of our coastal seawater locally in East Kent, regionally in Kent and nationally in Britain. 

In 2019 our Deal beach seawater quality was rated ‘excellent’, it has deteriorated to ‘good’ in 2021, ‘sufficient’ in 2023, and in November 2024, ‘poor’. We demand that Southern Water, DEFRA, Environment Agency (EA), DDC and KCC act together to reverse this deterioration at speed in 2025 and 2026, so that it returns to ‘excellent’, and remains excellent, thereafter. We demand that all parties petitioned act with rigour and transparency. 

We want actions in East Kent to include:  

• ·        An immediate and long-lasting increase in the frequency of seawater testing by both Southern Water and the regulator, with an increase in the number of sites where testing is done between Sandown Castle, North Deal and Boundary Road, Walmer / Kingsdown. 
• ·        Surveys of, and speedy upgrading of, infrastructure such as Southern Water assets (pipes, holding tanks, settlement tanks, etc); Infrastructure upgrades to put an end to storm overflow releases (given that there is a Kent-wide call to be more resilient in the face of more frequent extreme downpours and surface flooding) ; complete separation of foul sewage and surface water everywhere in CT14 postal area, including connections to Golf Road WPS. 
• ·        Any sewage leakages originating at DDC owned properties including Deal Pier to be thoroughly repaired / and pipes replaced at speed in 2025. The in-depth investigation by Southern Water which aims to report to EA by May 2027, to provide a public interim report by Dec 2025, given we have key coastal events due to happen in Walmer in summer 2026. EA to work on a ‘Step Change’ process speedily and work with the local community to identify problems, resolve them and enable an upgrade in seawater bathing quality in 2025.  
• ·        Increased forward planning so that water companies become statutory consultees on all industrial, tourism, and housing developments and are required to provide Local Planning Authorities with reports on how developments will impact capacity and how developments will connect to existing waste / foul water infrastructure before planning applications are approved; a speedy end to illegal / accidental misconnections of new bathrooms to the storm water drainage systems. 

Background Context 

Southern Water was fined a record £90million in July 2021, in a case citing 6971 specific illegal sewage spills, part of a much larger problem (ref 1). The chair of Environment Agency in Aug 2019 said, “The funding the Environment Agency gets from the government to protect the environment has been cut from £120m in 2010 to £52m now, a cut of 57%, and that has affected our ability to protect and enhance our waters.” (ref 2.) 

We note that on 19 Dec 2024 the water industry's financial regulator, OFWAT, announced that, over the next five years, water bills across England and Wales will increase by an average of 36%, with customers in the south east facing an astonishing price hike of 53%.

The founding members of SOSDAW (sosdealandwalmer@gmail.com) agree with SOS Whitstable and the Sewage Campaign Network that this is an abject capitulation to water companies, who funnel our money into bonuses and dividends rather than vitally important infrastructural investment. 

The SOS Whitstable petition for a return of the water industry to public ownership can be signed on line; it had 280,000 signatures in Dec 2024. Some people signing SOSDAW petition which focuses on East Kent may also want to sign the SOS Whitstable petition for the return of the water industry to public ownership.   Petition : return-the-water-industry-to-public-ownership  

Surfers Against Sewage handed in a petition on public ownership and accountability of water companies in 2023. Their current petition is on banning the bailouts of water companies. Some people signing SOSDAW petition may well want to sign this too.  Petition : Public Interest first, ban the bailouts It calls on the PrimeMinister to replace Ofwat's duty to deliver water company profits with a duty to protect the environment and public health.

A parliamentary Private Members Water Bill was tabled in Oct 2024 by backbencher Clive Lewis MP. (Ref 3.)  We believe that the root and branch changes that it includes should be adopted by the Government and the Minister, Rt Hon Steve Reed MP, because it provides more protections than the government’s Water Bill does.    Clive Lewis’ Private Members Bill would:

·        Set new targets and objectives relating to water, including in relation to the ownership of water companies and to climate mitigation and adaptation

·        Place requirements on the Secretary of State to publish and implement a strategy for achieving those targets and objectives

·        Establish a Commission on Water to advise the Secretary of State on that strategy

·        Require the Commission to set up a Citizens’ Assembly on water ownership

Ref 1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-57777935 

Ref 2. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/letter-to-the-times-from-emma-howard-boyd-chair-of-environment-agency 

Ref 3. https://www.clivelewis.org/uncategorised/news-and-updates/2024/10/16/launching-my-private-members-bill-overhauling-the-failing-water-system/